I Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 312
Episode 312 – Monster Hunting (3)
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Multiple cults walked in a dark underground maze.
Most of them wore suit-like reinforced clothing, but some wore very large armor.
Their true identity, which appears to be two heads taller than the surrounding cults, is the fully armed Priests of the Eye of Revelation. The reinforced suits they are wearing are special reinforced suits made to fight against the Vortex One cult.
No matter how skilled a cult is in psychic power, it is difficult to remain sane if exposed to the power of Vortex One. Even warriors who had been trained for decades often turned into madmen in a split second while fighting cultists.
To prevent this, the Priesthood provides means to protect the most important warriors. The name of this reinforced uniform issued to the most elite priests is the ‘Heresy Interrogation Uniform’. This equipment is made by processing a large amount of Nova Metal into dark matter and provides immunity to various energy attacks.
In addition, it has excellent physical defense and can withstand bombardment from battleships. In terms of defense alone, it is superior to its rival, the ‘Yonglinbok’ of the Temple Guardians.
The downside is that it cannot receive any assistance from psychic techniques that are helpful in combat due to its unique resistance effect, and that it is very heavy, making its movements slow.
Moreover, some of those currently underground were carrying special weapons.
The warriors standing in the middle of the group are walking in pairs while holding one weapon.
The name of the weapon, which looks like a spear wielded by a giant or a mythical being, is ‘Slayer’. It is a remodeled version of the ‘Demolisher’, mainly used by the Temple Guardians, into a standard heavy weapon.
Although it is an entry-level model, it is large in size and has far superior firepower than the Demolisher. Thanks to this, it is mainly used when fighting outspacers with hard shells. Considering the specs of the being they had to deal with now, the Slayer was absolutely necessary, so they brought it with them.
The speed of the punitive force was very slow due to the priests wearing heavy equipment as well as the warriors carrying heavy weapons.
But no one was to blame for this.
Their opponent is a monster with great strength, high intelligence, and even the ability to transform. If you don’t have this level of equipment, you will most likely be killed if you encounter him. Didn’t the punitive force that came in before them actually suffer great damage?
So, the punitive force chose a strategy of building a siege network that could drive the bastards in, albeit slowly. Because of this, it took a full day, but the results were clear.
In addition to them, there are now thousands of cult warriors waiting underground at each location. When the punitive force or the warriors waiting at each point encountered the ‘three-headed devil’, the warriors at other points reconstructed the siege network targeting the devil’s movement path.
While the siege was being built, it attempted to attack the defenders and punitive forces at each point, but the damage was minor. Conversely, the punitive force succeeded in injuring the man.
About 3 hours ago, while they were moving ahead of a crossroads, this guy suddenly appeared in front of them.
Strongly acidic liquid and chunks of corrosive mold poured out from the mouth of this hideous-looking creature.
Two types of attacks came, but this time, the punitive force was properly prepared. The punitive force led by heavily armed priests easily defended against the attack. While the priests blocked the attack with the Inquisitor’s defensive effect, the warriors holding the Slayer began shooting.
Even its hard shell could not block the Slayer’s material decomposition bombs. Two of the eyeless head’s horns were hit by bullets and destroyed. It probably didn’t expect this, but it ran away as soon as its horn was damaged.
The punitive force was greatly encouraged by their first success after entering the underground. Because if you can hurt, you can also kill.
It didn’t show up again after that. Instead, he simply used his unique voice imitation ability to deceive the punitive force.
However, from the point of view of the punitive force, there was nothing to regret.
The longer the game of tag lasts, the more advantageous it is not the guy, but the punitive force. The owner of this planet is a cult. The punitive force can receive unlimited support, but they are not bastards.
And in a few hours, reinforcements from the Temple Guardians will also arrive. If experts in monster hunting join, the battle will definitely turn towards the punitive force.
“Movement occurs within 500m ahead.”
“It’s going smoothly. Please share with priests in other branches.”
“yes.”
The vice-leader of the Eye of Revelation Priests, who served as the temporary commander of the punitive force, nodded at his subordinate’s words.
The warriors holding the Slayers were ready to fire at any time, and the priests wearing the Inquisition uniforms tightened their hands holding their weapons.
The sounds of the cult members’ breathing and footsteps as they moved were made on the dirt.
As the distance between the point where the movement occurred and the punitive force gradually narrowed, a sound was heard.
“Everyone stop.”
Everyone stopped moving at the vice-captain’s words. In the silence where not even the sound of breathing could be heard, a sound was heard again.
“Help me!”
In the darkness yet to be revealed, someone was asking for help. However, the vice-captain did not move hastily.
“Is there a waiting point around here?”
“There is one.”
“How can I contact you?”
The subordinate who quickly made contact shook his head. The vice-captain immediately gave an order.
“Everyone be careful. “He’s nearby.”
“yep.”
“If you see something moving, start shooting immediately. “It’s an order.”
Until now, he had been deceiving them by imitating their voices. It is unlikely that that opponent is an ally.
Moreover, the above had already issued an order in this regard a long time ago. It can imitate the voices of other intelligent beings, so if in doubt, attack immediately.
The punitive force that received orders from the vice-captain slowly walked toward the sound of the voice.
“Help me! “Help me!”
“No need to worry. Be faithful to your duties. “I will take responsibility for everything.”
“Help me!”
The closer they got, the more desperate the screams became. Every time a voice was heard, the vice-captain reassured the subjugation team members not to be agitated.
Then the voice suddenly cut off. The passage, which was supposed to be filled with silence, began to vibrate. The vice-captain saw something beyond the shaking darkness and shouted loudly.
“Start shooting!”
The Slayer and various weapons spewed fire, brightening up the black cave. An explosion more intense than light struck the walls of the passage mercilessly. Through the flashing light, I saw a huge creature twisting around.
The indiscriminate firing of the punitive force ended after the creature stopped moving. The dirt-covered floor was already soaked with the blood the bastard had spilled.
Although no creature could survive after shedding this much blood, the vice-captain did not let down his guard.
“Let me check.”
A priest approached him cautiously.
“Vice-captain!”
“what? “Are you still alive?”
“That’s not it! “Come here!”
The emotion of embarrassment was evident in the voice of the subordinate who identified the body.
It was only after the vice-captain checked the body that he realized why he was embarrassed.
The body in front of him.
The identity of the guy hiding half of his body in the dirt is not the three-headed devil.
That was Red Worm, an entity that had a significant impact on the planet’s ecosystem.
“What should I do?”
It would have been better than the current situation if he was still alive.
‘…Damn it.’
The dead red worm was an individual that had not yet fully grown. Just looking at its size, it was similar to the three-headed demon they were chasing.
What this means is that he can avoid the attention of the punitive force by pretending to be a red worm. No, maybe he got out of this area a long time ago.
This was a blind spot that arose from tracking the creature based solely on its size and vibration.
“Contact above immediately. “He is mixed among the Red Worms.”
“yes. I understand…”
At that time, the quiet passageway vibrated. The vice-captain knows what that vibration means.
“Another Red Worm is coming! Everyone prepare for battle!”
The three-headed devil didn’t just run away.
A huge trap he had prepared was targeting them.
–
‘I got caught.’
Vibration that can be felt even when the assistive device is not placed on the ground.
It was a signal that the red worms were moving.
They might have thought they had successfully surrounded me, but that was not the case at all. On the contrary, I led them to a specific place.
This is Red Worm’s territory.
The punitive force doesn’t seem to have noticed, but the passages they are currently standing in were not created by me. All I did was create a slight path in the tunnel where the red worms were passing through.
He also did not forget to make his voice heard to the enemies while leading them to Red Worm’s territory. Thanks to this, my enemies made the serious mistake of thinking that I was the only one imitating the voices of others under the red desert.
‘The ranker knows what he did wrong, but…’
It’s too late to turn back now.
There are two ways for the ranker to catch me here.
Either come down and chase me, or kill all the moving red worms.
‘I’ll probably choose the latter.’
If the other person was smart, he would have figured out that I had induced this situation. Their guard against me has heightened, but it is unlikely that I will enter the underground directly.
However, it is not easy to come all the way here and take out the imperial mother ship. Destroying Berzan 02 is a completely different matter than bombing a sacred site.
No matter how I destroy it, what if I don’t die? Will my opponent be able to take the risk of having to fight me in an empty universe without anyone’s support?
Therefore, the only way the enemy ranker can choose is to kill the Red Worm to facilitate tracking me.
‘The problem is that that was my real intention.’
The number of red worms I encountered before he established a siege network was over 80. How long does it take to track down and kill so many red worms one by one? It will take a week at the earliest.
All I have to do is wait until I can transform while they chase after their wrong target.
‘Of course, we need to add some seasoning in the middle.’
I need to show up at the right time to keep my enemies from deviating from my plan. Only then will the enemy continue to pursue Red Worm with vain hope.
It’s a bonus to keep making people think I’m in a ‘weak state’.
‘Then move again… oops.’
As I was about to go find those who had not yet encountered Red Worm, I remembered something I had forgotten.
I raised my fighting arm and grabbed the two horns on the left side of my head. And I broke the horn with all my might.
Number 26 saw me breaking the intact horn and tapped me with its tentacle.
｢Big baby, why are you breaking the horn?｣
[Zuz zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu zu zuzu (I’m acting because I’m not healed)]
｢Acting? I know acting! When I imitate bad kids, it’s also acting!”
[Zuzuzu (exactly)]
“I’m good at acting too! Look!”
He said and took out a ‘mutant tentacle.’ The ordinary tentacle wriggled and transformed into something similar to the left head with a broken horn. It was just pink in color, but it looked exactly like my hair does now.
[Zuzuzu (You’re good)]
｢I’m good!｣
[Zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzuzu zuzu (When you meet bad kids, do what you normally do)]
｢Yes. “It’s acting.”
The guy who had changed his tentacles to their original ones climbed on top of my head.
After that, I went around with him and played tricks on the enemies. Even after Aadhai joined along the way, the plan did not change.
As expected, the enemy chose to reduce the Red Worm. However, a lot more people were sent underground than I expected.
‘I never thought they would even mobilize the temple guards.’
The temple guards are the priest’s bodyguards and experts in monster hunting. Originally, they were not stationed in Berzan 02. This is because there is no need to do so because there is a priesthood of the Eye of Revelation.
However, seeing warriors wearing dragon uniforms walking around here made it clear that they had been hastily brought in from another planet.
‘I guess you really want to catch me…’
But the method was wrong.
Numerous people mistook Red Worm for me and wasted time killing him. Thanks to this, I was able to survive underground for two days without major damage.
‘An hour to go.’
After about one more hour, the cooldown for ‘Organic Evolution’ will end. After that, you can leave this place in a transformed state.
Heavenly Mother and PS-111 had already made preparations to escape me a long time ago. He must be waiting for me at the meeting place out there.
‘Before I go, should I try to keep the enemy far away one last time?’
[Zuzzu zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzu (I have business to do, so I’ll go first)]
｢Yes.｣
｢Hurry up｣｢Come｣｢I
‘ll wait for you｣ I patted No. 26 and Aadhai, who had worked hard so far, once and sent them off first.
I left them behind and headed towards the direction where the cult group was gathered.
‘huh?’
When the distance between them was short, my auxiliary organs sensed a strange energy.
These underground cults never moved in small numbers. However, this feeling of popularity that I feel now was never the feeling of the majority.
‘And I think I definitely felt this familiarity somewhere.’
The being coming towards me showed very faint footsteps and refined movements like a machine. It was clearly the movements of someone I had encountered in person, but I couldn’t remember when I had seen it.
‘Just in case.’
I prepared my acid breath in the direction the opponent was coming from. The moment the suspicious-looking owner appeared from beyond the cave, I fired my breath.
A cannonball of green, gritty liquid traversed the passageway and hit its target.
“…Acidic mucus. “Nothing has changed.”
‘what?’
The other person’s voice was heard in a passage filled with acidic smoke. Then, an intangible wind blew through the fog and ripped off one of the horns on the center’s head.
‘How can this be?’
“Do you remember me?”
I was more surprised by the other person’s identity than by the fact that the tip of the horn was cut off.
Long black hair, a slim body, and eyes with a cool, calm glow.
Of all the people I have met, there is only one person who has these characteristics.
The first powerful enemy I faced after falling into this world.
A genetically modified human who was defeated by me after a battle for his life.
‘Sihyeon Eugene?’
She, once dead, emerged from this dark underworld.